03/27/2014

Emergence of a New Security Trend

by ZixCorp

Healthcare, financial services and government organizations make up the majority of customers who deploy our email data protection and for good reasons. Healthcare and financial service manage an abundance of protected health information and personal financial information, and they are heavily regulated industries. Meanwhile local, state and federal government organizations must protect sensitive information to meet government standards and maintain public trust.

However, the customer trend is beginning to shift with increasing data breaches that are affecting millions of people. Businesses outside of the usual industries are taking notice and taking action. Law firms are in the mix, as highlighted in the New York Times article – Law Firms Are Pressed on Security for Data.

Here are key highlights and quotes from the article:

•“In some cases, banks and companies are threatening to withhold legal work from law firms that balk at the increased [security] scrutiny… ‘It is forcing the law firms to clean up their acts,’ said Daniel B. Garrie, executive managing partner with Law & Forensics, a computer security consulting firm that specializes in working with law firms. “When people say, ‘We won’t pay you money because your security stinks,’ that carries weight.”

•“Companies are prodding law firms on security at a time of overall rising concern about hacker attacks like the information breach at Target last year, when the retailer said at least 40 million credit and debit card accounts were compromised.”

•“‘Clients are putting more restrictions on law firms about things to do to protect themselves,’ said Mary E. Galligan, an executive in the cyber-risk services division of Deloitte & Touche and the former special agent in charge of cyber and special operations for the New York office of the F.B.I. “It is being driven by victims of hackers, and they don’t want to be victims again. It’s just good business sense.”

The legal industry may just be the start of a considerable change in how all businesses (not just healthcare, financial services and government organizations) protect personal information and corporate data. Do you agree?